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Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Christmas Night
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the houseNo electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged in by the chimney with careWith the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
Ryan Kelly, Pavel Tsvetkov, Sunil Chirayath, John Poston, Evans Kitcher
Nuclear Technology | Volume 190 | Number 1 | April 2015 | Pages 72-87
Technical Paper | Radiation Transport and Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-155
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The objective of this paper is to analyze the uncertainty in radiation dose rate estimates outside of a used nuclear fuel (UNF) dry cask storage unit due to the parametric variability of concrete compositions and densities. This requires the selection of a limited number of concrete compositions from a standardized database and the development of a reference dry cask model, which can be used to estimate dose rate from neutrons and gamma rays. The model was developed for use in calculations with MCNP, with reference data from a UNF assembly source and geometry details based on the Holtec HI-STORM 100S UNF dry cask storage system, both provided by the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant. A number of cases have been developed and analyzed to compare the effects of variations in concrete compositions considering nominal densities, variations from nominal densities, fixed densities regardless of the specific composition, and variations in the decay source. The analysis confirmed that the parametric variability of concrete compositions is a major source of uncertainty in evaluations of dry cask dose rates. While precise results depend on the compositions compared, general trends can be identified. The largest fraction of the dose value in all cases, typically 70%, is due to gamma rays produced by the fission products. Density variation had a dominant effect on the dose rate. Composition variations, while density was held fixed, indicated that the specific composition data significantly impact the dose rates produced by neutrons and associated capture gamma rays. The impact due to composition variation on neutron dose rate was found to be on the order of 70% or higher for these test cases. The analysis indicates that uncertainties in concrete characteristics at the time of on-site pour procedures impact the actual shielding efficiency and, therefore, must be evaluated.